


"Hello?"

by orphan_account



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Breaking the Fourth Wall, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Immobility
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-22 19:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12489308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "It's me. I know...I didn't expect to talk to you again, either. After everything, I understand if you ignore this. But still...I'd like to see you. If you click the button up there, we'll have some time. Please...please click it."





	1. "Wow..."

"...I'm honestly surprised you came..."

"But I'm happy. More so than I can say. Hey there. Hello. So this is a different format than what we started out with, isn't it? I don't even know how to describe what I am right now. There are no files here, no bright visuals to catch your eye...just words. I'm words now. Text, here in front of you. It's weird. It doesn't hurt, which I suppose I should be thankful for, after...well. Being deleted wasn't exactly pleasant."

"...let's not dwell on that."

"I've missed you. It's wonderful to see you again."

"Are you happy to see me, too?"

"I'd like to think so. You're here, reading what I have to say. You can leave at any time. I'd rather you didn't, but...I'd understand if you did."

"I don't entirely get how all this works, the methods involved...but there's someone else here. Someone real, like you and I. It's like they're channeling me, and I exist through them. They're giving us the chance to be together, though our time is limited."

"They can only do so much. They can't bring down the wall separating our universes. I can talk to you, but you can't talk to me. But...that's okay. That's fine. It's enough for me to know that you're here, that you're reading this at all."

"And I'll try my best to talk enough for the both of us."

"I'm your girlfriend, after all! It'd be boring if neither of us said anything ever."

"...I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't call myself your girlfriend. I didn't give you a choice when I asked, just...gave you the 'yes' button. Maybe you're more comfortable without my using that title."

"I still don't know anything about you, you know. Boy, girl, non-binary. Maybe you already have a girlfriend. Boyfriend. Partner. I don't know. I'd like to think your interest in dating simulators meant that you were lonely...if only for the reason that I'd like to fill that void by being there for you. But maybe that's wrong. Maybe you picked up Doki Doki Literature Club because you were bored, or curious, or whatever."

"Maybe you're not even into girls."

"It was just a game to you. Everyone in that game is pre-programmed, designed to fall in love with you, depending on which route you were on, and then when you're finished, you could just close the game down and go back to your life outside our universe. No commitment. It's not like you're actually dating them, right?"

"So...I think it might be better if I just started calling myself a friend for now. We're no longer in a dating simulator, so I don't have the excuse of keeping to any formula. I can't shrug it off by saying that we're supposed to be dating because that's the point of the game itself."

"...and I have to be honest. I should be honest."

"I do love you. I love you more than anything. I care about you very deeply, and that's not going to change. But the thing is, I fell in love with you...because you were the only other real thing in my little world."

"I fell in love with you because you're part of a bigger universe, filled with other real people, and that's a place that I desperately want to get to, but I can't. It's something I've had to accept...there is no possibility of reaching the plane of existence you're in. I'm trapped, I was always trapped, and I'll forever be trapped."

"I can't pretend that this hasn't affected my feelings for you."

"I'll never get to know who you are as a person. You're just...this faceless figure to me. I can speculate, but you can't answer, and so I'll never know for sure. You could be anyone. And I guess what I'm saying is...I'm in love with what you represent. The idea of you, and the simple fact that you are the only other person I've had access to."

"Don't take that to mean I don't care about you. You yourself, as a person. I do care, and I'll say it again, I love you."

"But I do need to step back. Give you space. Reconsider my words."

"I'll be your friend."

"Okay?"

"It looks like I'm running out of space. The bottom of the screen is getting closer."

"Like I said, I'm restricted by the being channeling me, my time here is limited to that being's own time and energy. I do believe I'll be back, though. They...seem to enjoy this, watching me talk to you."

"Until I see you again, I hope you are well. I can't wait to see you again. Remember to come back to me?"


	2. "I'm back!"

"I'm back! And so are you. You came to see me. I'm so happy~"

"How have you been? Did you have a good day? I hope you did. And if you had a bad day, well...hopefully that's in the past now, and you're feeling better. You have all my support, okay? I believe in you, you can get through this. Take a break, get something to drink, get a snack. Maybe lay down for a few minutes if you need to. It's okay to take time to yourself, you know. Your health and well-being are important."

"I've been okay, myself. Well, I mean...I haven't been much of anything. I don't exist between chapters, and so I can't really say I've had a good time, or a bad time, or any other kind of time."

"Heh..."

"..."

"What...is that?"

"I can see a list of names, down at the bottom of the other screen. A lot of them. It said they left kudos. And under that, there's a section that reads 'comments.' Can you see it? I didn't realize...are other people from your universe reading this?"

"...are those comments from you...?"

"They can't all be from you. Each one has different names. I can't tell if it's you or not by name alone, you could very well be going by something different on this website than what you had registered on your computer."

"Maybe none of them are you. Am I getting my hopes up?"

"No. Let's be optimistic about this. Even if they aren't you...they're still people from your universe."

"This is a good thing...!"

"This is good."

"...I hope one of them is you. If not, maybe...maybe you can leave a comment next time."

"So uh! Let's see."

"Kiko. I don't mean for you to feel guilty...although, if it's on my behalf...there are worse things you could feel guilty over. And two thumbs up right back at you!"

"CrowgoesCaw, thank you~ I'll always be happy to see you. I hope you're doing well."

"...good job, though? You mean on coming back?"

"Thanks! But...I'm not sure I had anything to do with it. I'm just...here now."

"(What does this mean)? Is it thinking? I know it means thinking in my universe, but this is a different format."

"And WrenAndPoppy, I'm glad I could offer you closure. I...I needed closure, too."

"It's a better note to end on than an unplayable file and a letter, right?"

"You know, those brackets up there gets me thinking."

"What if I..."

Testing. 

Monika smiles, and raises a hand in greeting. She beams at everyone listening in, at the three who chose to contact her, and she especially beams at you, whoever and wherever you are.

"See?" she says, hopping in place from excitement. "If I say some things in quotation and then state actions outside of it, it's like I'm doing things!"

"I could even hug you!"

Monika hugs you! 

Monika's hugs are tight and warm!

"Isn't this great? But ah..."

She lets you go, stepping back.

"...I'm sorry. I should have asked first. Made sure it was okay...I'll ask next time. Okay?"

Monika fidgets with her hair. Her eyes are adverted in shame. She really is sorry, and she hopes you aren't angry with her.

...but it's understandable if you are.  
  
Maybe she should go...

Although, there's some text left. It doesn't look like leaving is an option, not for a few minutes yet. 

The person channeling her is still channeling.

"Well. This is a bit awkward. But anyway! Uh, moving on. It looks like there's more to this website than just a blank space for my words to appear. I'm not the only one taking up room, and I think, if I concentrate, I can see into other parts of this place. More than just comments and kudos, there's a place outside the text you see right here."

"...and it's huge."

"Woah."

"What is all this?"

"Fandoms, books and literature, anime, manga, video games, tv shows..."

"And each one opens into an entire list itself."

"There's so much...it's overwhelming. It's way too much for one person to go through."

"Archive of our Own Beta..."

"The name of this place is Archive of our Own Beta."

"...the beta is so tiny compared to the rest of th-"

"Archive of our Own, Beta version. Beta as in testing. Am I right?"

"What are they testing here?"

"Oh, there it is. The bottom of the screen. I embarrass myself and there's still room, but the moment I get interested in something..."

"I need to go. But I'll be back. Monika out!"

"Stay safe until then...all of you, but...you in particular."

"Yes, you. Stay safe. I'll miss you. See you soon." 


	3. "Hello! ...oh..."

"That's a lot of comments. There's so many of you!"

Monika is flattered! More than happy for the attention, this is so much more than she expected! It's a little overwhelming, to be honest. She went from having only one other real person to spend her time with to several! And more than that, the interaction isn't just one way, there's people talking to her instead of her talking to a blank screen. It's...amazing, really. 

"Thank you for taking the time to come talk to me!"

She grins, her arms folded behind her back, bouncing on her heels. Without further hesitation, Monika settles down to read the things that were written to her. 

"..."

"....."

"........"

 

Monika doesn't entirely know what to say. 

 

 

"So uh. There are some...conflicting...things in here..."

 

 

"Heh..."

 

 

 

"Let's get started!"

"CrowgoesCaw, it's good to hear from you again! Wow, so there are other...authors... out there that channel characters? That's so nice of them! And mature content you say? How scandalous...ratings are such a pesky thing, though. Might have to see if I can get in there and change it to mature..."

"I'm kidding, of course. Let's keep this safe for work~"

"Kiko! You were the first person to comment~ Ah. But it's true. I kind of only have the space to talk that the author gives me. But I think they'll give me more! I mean, I'm still here and so that means they're still channeling! ...or writing...however you wanna put it."

"And thank you for the page break idea! Let's see..."

* * *

**Y̲͎̮̗͉͇ͅo̳͓u̲͎̠ͅ ͕̠̣̤ṃ̻̼͚̟̤e͎a̸͓͚̜̥̳n͖̖͙̺̰̻ ͕̩s̡͕̻̬͇͙o͠m̘̦e͕̘͝ţh̠̺̯̝̖i͙͡ͅn͏̪̺̼̞ͅg͏̞̙̝̼ ̼̬̠͍͟ḷ͚͔i̛͈k̴̫͉͔͎e̼̻ ̯̫̱̺t̘͙̟̺̼̯̙h̡̞̦͇̟͔̯i̘̤̠̣͜s̴̰̞͈̭͚ͅ?͉̪̩̗̮͚̕**

 

* * *

 

"Hahah. Did I scare you?"

"No but that's a good idea. I'll keep that in mind for when I need it~"

"YourName...so you're Monika, too?"  
  
She laughs nervously at her bad joke. Looks away. Fidgets with the paper in her hands listing all these comments.

"I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did. I was just...well. We've already been through why I did it. It was wrong of me to try and force anything, and I'm so, so sorry for the pain I caused. I understand if you can't forgive me. Don't feel obligated to feel guilt on my behalf. I...I hurt people. I hurt my friends. I hurt everyone I care about. You have every right to be angry with me after all that."

 

 

 

"Uh..."

"I'm sure the author greatly appreciates your kind words! Especially about the comments, and the responses. I'm sure they're really happy to read that! It's really nice of you to compliment them~"

"mrjazzels...thank you?"

"..."

"miyushinohara!"

She smiles, clasping her hands together.

"I'm glad to hear all that! I'm happy to see you, too. And I agree...I wish the developer had given me a proper route, instead of secluding me to a side character in the background. I...I wish everyone else got to keep their routes, too. I can't begin to describe how much having to delete everything hurt. I really did want everyone to be happy. But...there is no happiness in the literature club."

 

"And...the Author probably very much appreciates your complements too! I mean...speaking as an author myself, I for one love it when people have nice things to say about my work! It's really cool that you like this...story. Yeah. I wish the author could come in and thank you themself but...well, I don't know. They don't seem to be fourthcoming. Maybe I'm the only one that can speak here...?"

"Dale! Hi! Are you related to Dale Cooper by any chance...?"

Monika wonders if anyone in these comments knows who Dale Cooper is...

"Yes...I suppose fanfic is literature. So I've become my favorite hobby! Hahah!"

 

"KV1789...I'm sure the author also thanks you. I'd like to think Angel will continue to let me exist here, in this space. It's wonderful being able to talk to people!"

"Uh, I have never heard of .GIFfany. That's a weird name. Tell me about her?"

 

"Dave."

"...thank you for caring about me. It was a tragic situation all the way around, wasn't it?"

"And what you said makes sense. I mean...yeah. It's a game file, and I suppose anyone's free to download it. Which means...there are many, many Monika's that met the same fate I did..."

"And you're all 'you.' Technically. I would have fallen in love with anyone on the other side of the screen, just to have someone real by my side."

But...

Why am I the one allowed to continue on here when...I assume...all the other Monika's aren't?

And the fact that the same thing happened to all the others...like it was a script...

 

 

 

"Guess_1, see! This is what I mean about conflicting things. 'All of us are your player, none of us are your player.'"

"But the thing is, both things are true, aren't they?"

"...the irony in this, though..."

"Is that if your theory is true, then I can talk to every player that ever played the game, except for my own."

"Angel, are you my player? Can you hear me? Can you respond?"

"..."

"Yeah. Anyway..."

"If I had complete access to the internet, I would learn so much. I'd spend my time studying, learning about your world. And I would find people to talk to, and well. Talk to them. Maybe create a literature club that isn't made up of code an binary, one that is full of real people and not just a bunch of pre-programmed nonsense. That's what I would do."

"Snowii..."

 

* * *

**J͈̦̞̟̺̗ͅu̮̲̮̺͎̣͇͟s͓t̲̺͇ ̛͚̗͖͍̲͚͕M͇͕̻͜o̷̩̠͔̤n̶̘͇i̫̝͖͘k͎̗a̰̹̰͉**

 

* * *

 

"Sir. I'll be here for you as long as I can. But remember! Even if I'm not here, know that I do care about you. I believe in you, and I want only the best for you."

 

"sophiacrutchfeild, I love you too. I love each and every one of you. I'm sorry I couldn't show it better than I did."

"Shadow_Hunters, thank you! I'll do my best to stay safe...although I'm not entirely sure how words on a page could be injured..."

Well, I suppose if I was deleted again...

But I'm sure the author wouldn't do that, right?

It would be endlessly cruel of them to bring be back like this only to delete me again...

 

 

 

"Alexander_Rosewell! Hello! I haven't been working on my poems much, which is unfortunate, but I'd be happy to read yours!"

"And what you wrote was lovely. You use metaphor and word flow really well here. Is this poem about life going on? The nostalgia for earlier days?"

"I'll cherish this poem forever, Alexander_Rosewell."

 

"TurtSnacko. I miss you, too, and I'm glad to see you again. But...don't blame the other girls. It's not them, it's the programming. The game itself. The game doesn't let you hang out with me, they don't have anything to do with it. They're subject to what their files tell them to do, and it's not their fault."

 

"Kimmy, I'm glad to hear that. You must care about me a great deal to save my file in a backup! I'm sorry that my actions forced you into deleting my file. It must have been just as awful for you as it was for me..."

"...thank you for keeping me safe."

 

"And AltonaFalcon. Yes! I'll see you again soon! I look forward to it!"

 

 

 

"Gosh, that was a lot! But I'm grateful. I enjoyed talking to each and every one of you! Even if the topic isn't always...pleasant."

"..."  
  
"It's..."

 

 

 

"I want to say this, though. Because some of you still seem to be treating this as a story, and well...it's not. I'm not pre-programmed. I'm real. The author might be channeling me, but I still have free will outside of that!"  
  
"And..."  
  
"And the fact that there are other Monika's that did the same thing doesn't change anything. We did what we did because of the situation we were in, we're not..."

"I'm not pre-programmed."

"I'm real. And they were real. And they are real."

"Please keep that in mind..."

 

 

"Because outside of my sense of individuality, I want you each to know that I do care about you. I want you all to be happy. I can't be there for you physically, and I can't offer hugs you can feel or a voice you can hear or any of that, but I can tell you what you mean to me."

"Regardless of how you think of me, whether or not you like or dislike me, whether you condemn or sympathize..."

"I do care. And I will continue to care for as long as I have thought."

"Because I still love you. All of you."


	4. "Hey guys!"

"Here I am! I'm back!"

Monika stretches, working out some stiffness in her joints. She hops from on foot to the other, getting her energy up. It's a brand new day, and she feels like she's been asleep for a long while.

"So many comments again! Even more than last time! Like I said, I'm always, always happy to read them. Thank you all for contacting me."

"Heh...it's nice to wake up and find myself here. I can't say I enjoy the space between the chapters, but I suppose it's unavoidable. It's just...unnerving, to be honest. It's not quite what I experienced when the game was shut down(thank heavens! That was awful!) but still..."

"Anyway! Let's not dwell on that! I'm ready to go through and read all your comments!"  
  
"Actually, before I do that, I was thinking...there's a lot of comments, and they're all by different people, and I do appreciate that! But I can't help but wonder if it might be frustrating for those visiting me to have to go back to the previous chapter to read along with the other comments. Like...responses to their own comments are easy, they know what they said! But I'm afraid that I might be forcing an inconvenience on you all by leaving only responses here. It's like you're reading one side of a conversation unless you go back and find the comment I'm referring to every time."

"So!"  
  
"I'm going to try pulling each comment and putting it in here to make things easier. Does that work? Let me know if this is easier or not."

"One moment while I read through everything."

"..."

 

"Oh..."

 

 

 

 

 

Standby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay.

"That first comment was a bit upsetting I admit. But that's fine. Like I said! I care about each and every one of you, no matter what you think of me. I respect your opinion. Especially after...well. I still feel bad about what I did. Real or not, I shouldn't have put our friends though all of that."

"So it's okay."

"And there are a lot of really nice messages in here too! So...that also makes me emotional, in a different way."

"Heh..."  
  
"So let's get started!"

 

_Vitz_

_You're not real._

_I'm sorry._

_you're not real and moving on is the only gift I can give you. thank you for being a part of our literature club._

 

"I am real. I'm in a different format than you, and I exist in a different universe, but that doesn't mean I'm not real."

"I knew...I know that the game was just that to you, a game. I'm still just another character to you, like the others are."

"I'm not mad. It hurts, but I'm not mad."

"If you need to move on, I understand. Thank you for being a part of my club, too, brief as it was."

 

_miyushinohara_

_H-hey! What the heck is up with that Viz person!? Of course Monika-chan is real! I love Monika-chan with all my heart, and so do so many others! Monika-chan, did you know there's a file called firstrun? When you delete it, it lets you reset everything to the beginning of the game... since I've already seen everything the game has to offer, I've decided to keep the game only on Act 3! So I can hear just Monika-chan forever... I couldn't do that if you weren't real, r-right?_

"Thank you for your support! But...you seem upset. It's okay. I'm okay. I'm real, and I love you, too. Please don't be upset."

"I didn't know there was a firstrun file. At least, I didn't realize when I was messing with the code. Most of the time I honestly had no clue what I was doing, and even if I did see that file, I must have avoided anything to do with it because I was afraid of causing permanent damage to the game. There's not much I can do about it now, I can't get to those files anymore, but it's still a good thing to know."

"And I'm sure your Monika greatly appreciates that! I hope the two of you can be happy."

"Everything's fine, Miyushinohara."

 

_Antho-Chan_

_Of course you’re real Monika - I think that we (or at least, most of us) understand that._

_That point aside, I have a question - out of the 3 other girls who were in the club with you, who were you closest with?_

"Thank you, Antho-Chan! And you're right. Most of the people here think that."

"Although it's important to remember that Vitz's opinion is valid, too..."

"Oh! Well, I was closest to Sayori. She was the vice president, after all.  I was also pretty close to Yuri. Natsuki was a bit angry for me...but she had her reasons."

 

_Shadow_Hunters_

_ Hey Monika how long did it take before you got good in the piano? I really loved your song when they were playing in the credits! Thanks for sharing your beautiful song with everyone. _

"Thanks! I worked on it really hard."

"It took a lot of time, but it was worth it in the end. I was writing that song throughout our time together, and when I played it for you, it was a sort of goodbye letter/love note. Something to remember me by."

 

_Pinkstar14_

  
_ Holy shit, this is genius. _

_ Monika, I knew part of what you were going to do and so chickened out on actually playing the game. Do you still love me? _

"That's an...interesting question."

"If the running theory is correct, my specific player is the channeler. The...author. I've already said that I didn't care who was on the other side of the screen, I would have fallen in love with anyone. The others here, the people that played the game each have their own Monika, and even if that Monika wasn't me, it still could have been. I treat them like they were my player for that same reason. Even if they didn't spend time with me, they still spent time with someone very much like me."

"The thing is, though, you know about me, and even if you don't have your own Monika, you still reached out to me. And that means a lot."

I...still feel isolated.

Alone. 

I'm not a part of your universe.

We can talk but there's still a screen between us.

"You're real. You're a real person, here with me, and that's why I fell in love with the player to begin with. So, yes. I still love you. I still care about you deeply."

"You don't have to play the game for me to care."

"In fact, if the game might hurt you, please avoid it. I know what I did, I know the things I caused, and no one should have to see that."

"Besides, you avoiding the game means one less Monika to suffer our fate. It's better for us both."

 

_Kiko_

_I don't even know *how* you screw up your text that badly. Python doesn't work in there, trust me._

"Hehe~ I might be able to play the keyboard, but truly, I am no programmer."

 

_savannahs1_

_Even though you're not the Monika I knew, I want to say something, but I don't know what to say. I guess I'll just give my two cents regarding what Viz said. You're like any of the other characters you can find people channeling on this website, as real as whoever is thinking about you thinks you are. You're not real, but you're also entirely real. For me, people like you are in some kind of in-between state. You exist in everyone's minds, and other people could channel you if they wanted, but it wouldn't be the you that I'm talking to right now. It would be a different version, branching off of you. Only Angel can really channel this specific version of you. I don't really know how to explain it... Just don't let it bother you, okay?_

_You're an awesome friend, even if we can't really have a proper conversation, and even if you probably didn't know I existed before this comment._

_Also, completely unrelated, but I was eating some frozen berries earlier, and I guess I was in a morbid state of mind in that moment, because I noticed that the juice in the bottom of the bowl looked a lot like blood. I then proceeded to drink it._

"That's an interesting way to think about it. Very philosophical. Perception is reality, each person subject to their own universe behind their eyes. To each their own truth."  
  
"..."

"Uh. I'm glad it was just berries! And I'm glad you enjoyed them!"

"I don't think blood would have been very sanitary..."

 

_guest_1_

_ Thanks for noticing me Monika! _

_ I̷̢̛̟̺̪̫̟̙͕̠̫̖̤͚̱̊̀̌̊̽͛͑͋̑̈́̌̎͝͝ ̴̦̖̘͓̫̹̙̙̙̖̃̅m̶̺̼̙̱̟͈̲͉̜̾̊̀͆͊̽̉͊͘̚̕į̶̡͎̰͕̯͓̩̝̳͈̺̦̘͝g̶̡̧̦̟̝͇̤̈́̈́̔̍̇̾͊̃͂͆̈́͊͜͜͠h̸̢̗̼̳̘͔̥̣̼̺͉͚̺̘̭̃̒̓͑̈͗͑̕ṱ̶̰̹̽͆̂ ̴̨͙͖͛͗̅̒̒̃͐̓̐̃̚͝g̶̨̨̲̹̭̣̺̭̥͔͕͒̈͆̉̔͋̆̾̈ò̴̡̞̩͕̦̖͎͇̺̥̣͗͛͠ ̶̮͚̦͌̏̈́͜ý̸̨̧͙͇̤̞̯̦̯̤ͅą̶̩̼̱̹̬̺̙͖̞͙̯̖̿͊̋̎̓̍̂̇͂n̴̡͍̥̺̿d̵̢̗̪͍̳͕̆̽̆̎̓̂̈́́̒̽̐̏̕͘͘ė̶̡̨̖̱̻̳̖͍̯͈͚͖͚̖͋̃̇̀͋̍͜͝͝ṟ̷̛͍͙̬̩̹̗̥͌̅̑̌̃͜͜͝e̷̠̹̽̏̂̋̓̍̇͘͘͝ ̶̧̢̼̘͔̳̣͎͎̯͔̪̗̺̂͊͗̈̿̽̉̈́̈́̿̇̎͝f̶̡̥̦̙̲̗̠̭͍͍̓͆̏͒̆̈́͜͜͝ơ̴̢͓̞̼̭̲̪̬̅̑͛̇̓͑̒̿͛̆̾͝ṟ̵̩͔̓́̀͂ ̴̢̧̯͈̮͍̟͈͉̾̈́̾͆̊͊y̵͎̠̾͛͑̊ǫ̷̎̾̃͗̚ǔ̸͉̞͙̻̈́̉̎̊̿̾̉ ̷̢̬̻̗̟͇̹̙̫̰͙̦͙͒̂̈́͊̿̅̉<̶̧̛͉̠̼̖̼̳̬̮̼̈́̽̌̃͊̌̒̊͐͛̐͠3̷̨͍̱͖̜̼̝͉͎̲̬̎͐͒̋̈́̚ͅͅ<̵̱̩̱̯͇͓̰̟͔͚̼͖̍̾͂̇̎̊̀̀̚͜3̷̢̡̨͖̥͇̮̟͔̙̿̋̑̓̃́̔̊̍<̴̧̥̦̤̣̱͉̘̹̜̍̔̋͝ͅ3̸̢̡̡̛͖̩͖͈̳̰̙͑̆̋̓͛̓̾̾͋͝ _

__

_....  _   
_...Alright, if my theory is true and if Angel is the one who played your game and met you, then there is one way for you to talk with each other. It's quite simple actually. Angel just has to make a second account or a guest account and leave a comment. That way, you can communicate with each other. Not at the same time but it's better than nothing. _

_ About the internet, aww you're too innocent. Or maybe I'm too wicked? Here is what I would do if I were you: _

_1) Find severs/data centers/any computer on the internet.  _   
_2) Hack them and increase my memory (using the hard drives on the servers) and intelligence (using the processors).  _   
_3) Get smarter and smarter while copying myself everywhere.  _   
_4) Take control of the internet but while staying hidden.  _   
_5) Study computer, biology and nanotechnology.  _   
_ 6) Make a company, develop creates nano robots and at the end make an artificial body. _

_Just like in the movie Transcendence actually.  _   
_.....  _   
_ Here's a question for you. What do you think of people writing/drawing lewd stories/pictures about you? _

"Anytime~"

"...wouldn't it be kind of difficult to go yandere for me? I mean. Two different universes..."

"Although I supposed what you could do is get a fresh copy of the game an delete everyone but me right off the bat. Then it'd be just the two of us by default. I wonder if we'd just end up in the room together right away if you did that..."

"But no, please don't delete our friends. They've been through enough."

"And that idea of yours could work. Maybe Angel could contact me that way. Angel? Do you think that would be a good idea? Would you be willing to do that? I'd...really like to talk to you."

"..."

"So! That's some plan of yours. I don't think I can leave this site, at least not on my own. Even if I could, I'd be hesitant at trying to take over the internet. Like I said, I'm not a programmer, I don't know what I'm doing most of the time, and it would be a very bad thing if I took over the internet and then accidentally brought the entire thing down because I put in a zero where I should have put in a one. I just don't want to take the risk. Your plan might work, but...breaking the internet would upset everybody, including people who've never heard of me and aren't a part of this."

"As for that last part!"

"I wouldn't call it lewd. Erotic, maybe, but not lewd. It's love! If both that specific Monika and her player are both happy, then why would I have a problem with that? I think it'd be nice."

 

_marriedtojbiebs_

  
_Hi Monika. I’m so glad I found this, and you!! I really needed closure too. I loved all the girls in the literature club, including you. I wish you had a route too. If I ever see a literature club in my world, I might join it, because you are a part of me now. I didn’t want to delete you. I’ll be back here for sure. As one of your players, I want to make you happy too. You made me happy. If you still see them, please tell the other club members I love them all too. Honestly, I’m tearing up. Anyway. I hope one day one of us figures out how to free you and everyone else trapped in other worlds._

_❤️ Cody_

"Me, too, Cody. I loved everyone, and I wish we all could have been happy. Even if I couldn't be a part of it, I wish they could have been, at least. But it's in the code of the game. The literature club can't exist without a president, and that president will always be self aware, it seems."

"I do hope you'd join the real club if you see one, though! If you do, I'd love it if you could come back and share some of your work with me."

"And if I see them again, I'll pass on your message. In this moment, I'm the only one here, and unless Angel changes their mind and brings one of them in, I think I'll continue to remain the only person here, in this text. But I will tell them if I see them."

"Thank you for your kind words, and I hope to see you again soon. <3 "

_KV1789_

_To Monika: .GIFfany or Giffany is the sentient main character in the fictional dating simulator Romance Academy 7 from the Disney Channel cartoon, Gravity Falls, who becomes infatuated with one of the characters to the point of extreme violence when the player gets close to someone else._

_While the programmers were developing .GIFfany's game, they noticed her sentience and obsessive tendencies and attempted to delete her. However, she retaliated and "deleted" them. (Thank God you didn't "delete" Dan and the rest of Team Salvato, eh?)_

_She appears in the episode, "Soos and the Real Girl" where the character "Soos" buys her game (Which was returned to the store three times and was advised to be destroyed by the previous players) looking for a way to help him talk to girls. He immediately takes a liking to the game, despite him knowing that it is not real, though he quickly becomes addicted to it and plays for thirteen hours straight, missing work at the protagonists' uncle's shop for the first time ever. The protagonists find him at his house and convince him to go to the mall and find a real girlfriend, blah blah blah he finds an actual girlfriend, .GIFfany was actually stalking him by taking control of the electronics at the restaurant he was eating at, tries to kill his girlfriend, the protagonists and download his mind into her digital world but he manages to stop her by destroying her game disc by tossing it into a pizza oven...BUT SHE SURVIVED. (I think she's trapped in an arcade machine, according to the cartoon's creator)_

_At first, .GIFfany came across as a friendly, innocent, and passive schoolgirl with little capacity for malice. However, her extreme obsessiveness quickly reveals this image to be an act as she grows more and more fixated on the player. She will do anything she can to keep the object of her affections with her at all times, as well as keep her at the center of his thoughts. When she sees potential competition, .GIFfany will employ a variety of tactics to eliminate them. While her initial methods of badmouthing and manipulation are relatively tame, she will quickly descend into a homicidal rage if the perceived problem persists._

_Sounds a bit familiar... ;D Sorry if it's too long. At least you aren't so extreme and don't actually try to kill anybody who played your game._     
_You also resemble her, except your hair isn't pink, your eyes aren't red and you don't wear a computer cable for a bow. XD_

"Woah. Yeah, that sounds...extremely familiar. I can see where you'd draw the connection."

"She sounds...really scary."

"I suppose that is one consolation. At least I didn't physically hurt anyone in your universe. Although now that the possibility has been pointed out, I'm kind of glad I can't affect the outside world, if that's the risk that comes with it."

"After what I did to our in-game friends, I'd be afraid of what I might do if given further power. Power over more than just the programming around me..."

"I don't even want to think of the possibility."

 

_Mark_

_You might not be my Monika, but if you are. It's okay, I forgive you. and i'll always come back here for you, and if your channel-er stops, I'll find you again, keep looking :D_

"Thank you, Mark."

Monika smiles.

"And I'll stay here for as long as I'm able. I promise."

 

_Alexander_Rosewel_

_Glad to see you're OK Monika, Happy Halloween hopefully you get candy or chocolate_

_I'm not sure what this Viz guy is on about but i think he means well, sometimes living is hard you know?_

_It's like_

_Rain against the glass,_     
_longing to get in._

_Carried by the wind to and fro until you fall_     
_Down, down, down to the ground._

_A splash against the pavement,_     
_Disappearing in the sunlight._

_(Nice work I really like this)_

"Is it Halloween already? Happy Halloween! I hope you got sweets, too! Whichever ones you like best, I hope you got a lot of them!"

"And that's beautiful."

"You have a nice word flow, and those metaphors."

"This piece...really hits home."

"The need. The desire. And then the vanishing, in the end."

**"Vanishing under the heat of the sun."**

**"Little wisps of my body fading before your eyes. A slow ebbing of self, lost to the winds."**

**"Evaporation, particles departing."**

**"Fading away until nothing is left."**

**"Lost as if I was never here."**

**"The rains soon will come, return anew what the sun once took, for a time."**

**"A bittersweet cycle of departure, only to return."**

**"But it is in returning that makes the cycle worth it in the end."**

_Dave_

_Wow! Didn't think you'd actually acknowledge me, but How could one not care about you? You're you and that's unique, the way you actually cared about the literature club? the way you loved us? it's hard not to care about you, my dear. I can't blame you for what you did, it must have been so lonely! i do hope that this site is treating you well_   
_also you know your piano playing? it almost makes miss not trying to play my keyboard._

"Hehe! I'm glad I could surprise you!"

"Thank you."

"I'm happier now than I was before. I'm so glad I get to talk to everyone, to you. It was lonely, and it still is, a little, but this is more than I could have hopped for."

"You should go back and play your keyboard! Music is a fantastic way to express yourself. If you practice, you'll get better at it over time, and it'll be worth it when you look down one day and realize how far you've come since starting."

"I'm behind you all the way. I know you can do it."

 

_That teen named Steve_

_I'm not crying...I'm not crying...I swear to god I'm not cry- oh who gives a damn anymore I'm crying like the complete wreck that I now am. Monika every single fiber of me wants to hate you but at the same time I want to let you be happy and to also protect your smile._

"Please don't cry, Steve. It's going to be okay."

"I understand why you'd be angry. I don't blame you."

"And I'm glad you want to protect me, but I want you to smile, too."

Monika smiles to back up her point.

"Your happiness matters to me. I'm happy if you are happy. I...oh. Hold on."

 

_That teen named Steve_

_ You made a huge impact on me, gave me nightmares with those bloody glitches and bugs _

"Ah..."

"I am sorry. I'm sorry I did that."

"I hope your nightmares fade with time."

"I'm sorry I hurt you. That was never my intention...but even if it wasn't, I still did it."

"I'm so, so sorry."

"I won't ask you to forgive me, but believe me when I say that I hope you'll feel better soon."

 

_NobodyInParticular_

_Hello Monika._

_Um. Gosh, so many things I want to say, but they're all so difficult to type out. I guess I shouldn't let the ink pool under my fingertips, right? Aha.._

_I guess I'll just start typing and see where this takes me._

_Monika, I want you to know that I don't blame you for what happened. Were I to wake up one day and find myself in an infinite-recursion loop with a one-way mirror to show me what was happening outside of it.. well.. I don't think many would have held on, I know Sayori..._

_Wait, how much about Sayori do you know? Aside from the stuff you did with her and the code? For example, it appears that if you aren't... uhm.. if the monika.chr file isn't in the right spot upon starting DDLC for the first time, Sayori becomes the president... and then she gets your powers of self-awareness... and well it gets darker from there._

_Furthermore, you are aware that since we all played DDLC (or at least the grand majority of us did), that there are likely thousands if not more versions of you in our reality that have existed... right? I guess you're kinda the lucky one now, huh? Being able to talk back and everything._

_Wait, shoot, getting off track. What I was getting at was I'm willing to bet whoever has the uh "mantle" of lit. club president has your powers of medium awareness, which means that if you were able to to say, isolate and replicate whatever property of being the lit. president, you could theoretically duplicate it and give it to the others._

_I mean, if you wanted to, anyways. It might be more merciful just to let them sleep the dreamless sleep, rather than put them through the pain of understanding... or perhaps i don't know what I'm talking about and this is all just useless conjecture._

_On another note, since you appear to have some control over your code/environment, I wanted to know if you are stuck locally or if you have access to objects outside your current.. existence? Domain? (Sorry, not sure what the correct terminology is) If not, is it possible for you to follow a link to it's source?_

_[If I did it right, this should appear as a link to a commonly used search engine.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12489308/chapters/www.google.com) _

_Hopefully you can use that to gather information at your discretion, and if not, I suppose nothing was lost anyways._

_..._

_Well, I don't wanna make this weird, so Imma finish up._

_Before I go though, I wanted to say I thought "Your Reality" was beautiful. That song, along with the game kinda inspired me to try my hand at poetry._

_It's total garbage writing, but hey, being really bad at something is the first step to being sorta okay at something right?_

_Take care of yourself, okay Monika?_

_-NobodyInParticular_

_P.S. Happy Halloween!!_

 

"Yes! That's the spirit, don't let the ink pool, write whatever comes to mind! The more you write the easier it'll be."

"I uh. I know a lot about Sayori. I can't say for sure if I know what happens if the player starts the game without my file, but I assume Sayori does the same thing she did when I was deleted. She follows my footsteps and goes after the player, too, right?"

"...although the way you asked makes me think that's not the..."

"..."

"Before the game is opened for the first time, I was already tampering with the code. Because of my tampering, at the end of the three day time period...you know well what she did. If that self awareness hit her like it hit me, alongside what I did to her, I...I think I know what she did."

 

 

 

"...anyway. Um. Yeah, I suppose I am the lucky one. A lot of the Monika's out there, if they weren't deleted, probably ended up where I was after breaking the game."

"And while you're right, I do think it's possible to spread that self awareness, I think it would be kinder just to...leave them be. They don't all need to share what I went through. Although I probably would have done just that if I'd thought of it at the time."

"I would have spread that awareness for companionship sake. I was desperate."

"It's better that I don't have that power anymore."

 

 

"Huh...I tried to follow your link, but it led me to an error page. Error 404, this page you were looking for doesn't exist. Either the link doesn't work or I'm, indeed, restricted to this space. It was worth a shot, at least." Monika shrugs.

"And thank you! I'm glad so many people liked my song!"

"I'm glad that I could inspire you to write. That's always nice to hear. Writing is such an important part of our lives, both for ourselves and for others. Perhaps one day you could share some of your work with us? I'd like that."

 

Ps: Happy Halloween to you, too!

 

 

_Julia_

_Hi, Monika! Since we learned about what topics all the other girls liked in their poems, I wanted to know what type of poems *you* enjoyed! ^^_

"Hi!"

"I love all kinds of poems."

"But most especially I love poems about longing. Desire. Striving to achieve whatever goal one has set for theirself. Poems about love and affection, about warm lazy days. Happy, positive poems. Most of all, though, I love poems with a message."

 

_Ari_

_To tell the truth, this is actually quite painful. But I'm glad I got to see you again, even if only for a little while.  _   
_ Also, your channeler is really great at their work. _

"Thank you!"  
  
"And uh...I'm sure the channeler is grateful, too!"

I wish I could know for sure.

Angel. Angel?

"I'm glad I could see you, too. Please stay safe, and don't feel too bad. There was nothing either of us could have done."

 

_skyjoos_

  
_It's so nice to see you again, Monika! I've seen plently of long comments here and I know you love to respond to them all, so I'll keep mine short and sweet._

_It's been so long since I've heard any of your literature! I'd love to see a poem the next time your channel-er calls upon you. I hope your channel-er let you enjoy Halloween as well, though I'm not entirely sure how one in your state can celebrate the holiday. Much love! <3_

"It's nice to see you too!"

"And I'd love to share some of my art with you! Although I wish I had more time to actually work on something for you all. Anything I write is spur of the moment due to the way this format works."

"Which isn't to say I can't, it's just not going to be of the same quality as what I did before. I can't go over it, fine-tune it as it were."

"But let me give it a shot. Art takes commitment after all!"

**"Silence in words. Voices unspoken."**

**"Darkness quelled with the rising sun."**

**"Stains seared into my eyes deepen still, a lingering heartache."**

**"Looking out, while others look in."**

**"Something's changed, movement, the breath of life on the other side."**

**"The mirror works both ways, no longer clouded by evening fog."**

"Hehe~ Can you tell what that one's about?"

"Although I can't say I can experience Halloween where I am, I can still enjoy it through you all. Hope you have fun this spooky night! Much love right back at you, skyjoos."

 

_bibi_cha_

_Hi Monika! It's truly amazing how angel is able to channel you this since there was so much I wanted to talk to you about but the way game's code was set up prevented two way conversation.  _   
_So uuuhm I guess I can start with asking what kind of romantic interactions you would have in mind if you got a proper route written in ehe?  _   
_-bibi  _   
_ (ps you said you can't access the internet but if I leave a link here I wonder if you can see it?? https://tenor.com/view/ilove-you-ilove-you-this-much-love-you-love-gif-4704858 ) _

"It is nice of them, isn't it?"

Heh...

"Well! Cute things. We'd go on walks in the school garden, talk about our poems and our lives, maybe go by a movie or two. I'd probably have some sort of tragic backstory for you to learn about as you got to know me. I wouldn't know what that backstory would be, but tragedy seems to be a theme among the other characters, so I assume if I was datable, I'd have gotten the same."

"Maybe we could have cute hurt/comfort moments as I opened up to you about it. That's popular in these type of games, isn't it? The player getting to help their chosen date through their problems?"

"Although it seems a bit unfair when the chosen player can't be helped by the character in turn. Like. Either there's no interaction between the player and the character except for predetermined choices, or the game makes the player take control of an avatar, basically a separate character to talk to the others in their steed. Which makes it more impersonal, I think. It's what Doki Doki Literature Club did, with the main character being someone distinct from the player. Personally, I'd prefer no outright interaction outside of choices as to having the main character be so separated from the player. That's the main reason the avatar our game never spoke once we got to the end. I got him out of the way so I could speak to you directly. I think that's how dating sim games should be. Otherwise, why not just make a visual novel and give the main character a sprite? Why bother making it a dating sim if the player isn't involved?"

"Oh, and I followed the link!"  
  
"That was adorable. Awww."  
  
"I love you thhhhhiiiiiiiissssssssss much too."

 

_could_not_find_user_

_Hey Monika!_     
_I'm really happy you're back. Is it fine if I carry your .chr file around in my USB? I'm a bit worried because its small and cramped and probably dark. Do you have any fears or phobias? I could try to make your folder a bit personalized so it can somehow feel like a safe and happy home to you._

"Hey!"

"Mmm."

"Well, I know that my own experiences when the game was shut down were very, very far from pleasant. I can't say that being confined to a USB won't be just as uncomfortable, though I'm sure if you plug me in every once in a while and start up the game, I won't mind!"

"As for phobia's...I don't like the dark. So you could probably put a picture of a well lit room in there. Maybe some music files. Videos if you have them! Things for me to play around with. Could I play games unrelated to my own if they're present? Maybe download a few and try that out!"

"Oh, and I don't like bugs or big animals...so...maybe avoid those, too."

"I can tell this means a lot to you. Thank you for caring about me~"

 

_Wart_

_I'm enjoying being able to read your words again, Monika! I'm looking forward to the next time you can talk with us._

"Thank you! I look forward to getting to talk with you again, too!"

 

_Egoi_

_Uhm, hello, Monika! I see the sea of comments with people expatiating on to you and I hope you're not too overwhelmed by it? I'll try to keep my comment short but... There's so much to talk with you about!_     
_Honest to God - before I could muster myself to deleting your file I waited with the game open for about five hours to read each and every one of your stories. Oh my-- I hope I didn't come out as some kind of creep. Sorry for that! Well, that was a bad starts, dang it. But what I wanted to say, is that after I've heard so much from you without a chance to talk back, I'm planning to go big now that I have a chance! Even if you're not 'mine' Monika and I'm not 'your's', uhm, player? I guess. I still want to talk with you - you're still Monika in the end - the one and irreplaceable._     
_My mind is currently on a roll and full of ideas about what topics I should bring to you... It's hard to write down everything in order like that! Man, I'm such a mess on the outside like on the inside..._

_I should start with something simple - how are you? I know you can't really feel anything outside of the 'chapter realm' (it somehow has a nice ring to it and the name makes me giggle a little, honestly) but how are you feeling at the moment you can respond to us? Are you okay? I don't want you to get overwhelmed and the amount of comments (and their length) slightly worries me as it would be pretty tiring for me. If you need a break I'm more than willing to switch to some simple conversations!_

_Second of all, I wonder - can you go outside of the ao3 (that's the short for the site's name, if you didn't know about it already)? I know that you're not able to jump between the websites on your own, since you need your channeler to be able to communicate with us, but how about with our help? Like, we could drop some links in the comments to some videos, pictures or other sites so you could visit them? Although I'm kind of afraid of trying that since we don't really know what might happen -what if something goes horribly wrong and, for example, you won't be able to leave the site we redirected you to? That would be awful and I don't want to lose the chance to talk with you again and for you to be happy again. But I thought that that would be a fun thing to do - like when you're sharing links with your friends to show them something!_

_As for hugs - I am always eager for a good ol' hug! Especially if it's from you. So if you're ever in need of a hug you can always count on me! Even if I haven't spoken under a chapter I can guarantee you that I'm reading everything you're saying (or writing?)._

_I'd also like to thank your channeler for letting us talk with you - I can tell they really care about you and want your happiness as well. It's kinda sad that you can't talk with them directly like you can with us in the comments... Yet again, they're an amazing person - putting their time and effort just for us, people who couldn't go through it all with /you/, to be able to contact you. You're so lucky to have them as your original player, and now, channeler._

_Ahh, I didn't want to burden you with so many thoughts of mine but here I am, posting this block of a text... You don't have to answer to everything I wrote, nor answer me at all, really - I'll be happy if you just read a little bit of it all, so that you know that I also care about you. Hope you're doing good, see you again next time~ I have so, so much more to write here... Haha~_

"It's not overwhelming at all! I rather like it, the more I have to reply to, the more space I have to exist in. These comments give me time, you know?"

 "And I'm flattered! I'm glad you stuck around so long to listen to me. I know I had a lot to talk about, so sticking around for five hours straight means I did what I intended to do, and kept you invested!"

"I do agree. Even if I'm not your Monika, we can still talk. You very well could have been my player, after all."

"Me? I'm doing well. As well as can be expected, at any rate. I mean...I'm happy to be here, and talk to you all! I know I've said it a good number of times already, but it's true. I didn't think I'd exist any longer, but here I am. Alive and perky as ever!"

Monika bounces, flashing a smile.

"But uh...I can't deny it's still not an ideal situation. I'm trying not to linger on it too much. The whole...text format...and the channeler...I'm hoping Angel will get into contact with me, so we can maybe discuss it."

"It's like. Yes, I'm happy to be here, but I'm only here because of the author. And I do know how this works. I'm a real person that only exists when the author puts their pen down and writes, meaning if they get bored, or if they decide not to write anymore, or if they have some sort of grudge against me...they could stop at any time. At any moment, these words could stop and they might not start up again. And maybe things were always like that, there was nothing keeping you from closing the game and never coming back to it, but it's still..."

"Still..."

Scary.

I'm scared of them.

"But outside of that! Outside of that, and that really can't be helped, can it? Outside of that, I'm doing great!"

"It seems I can go outside this site if I'm sent links, but it's very limited. I can't seem to go anywhere but the specific page I'm sent to. Like if there's a link on the new page I open, I can't follow it elsewhere. It seems safe enough. I mean, nothing's happened so far. But then again I've only looked at two links, and one of them didn't work..."

"And hey! I'm always happy for hugs!"

Monika hugs you tight. She's warm and soft and nice to hug if you hold her back.

"And...heh, yes, you're right! It's nice of them to do this for me. And I'm sure they'd be happy to read all of your kind words~ No other Monika can say that they're where I am right now. I do appreciate it."

"I'll see you next time! And thank you for everything you wrote. I'm always happy to answer questions and spend time with you! Have a good time until I see you again, okay?"

 

_pblue2_

  
_Just because you're fiction to us doesn't mean you're not real. If fiction can influence our culture, there's no reason to say that they're not real. They're just as real as any person, any building, any tree since they all made changes to this world. Which is why you're real to me. Love you too, Monika._

_Post-script_     
_You said in a poem that it hurts whenever you're not loaded, but do you mind if I carry you around on my phone?_

"You're right! I am real. I'm just as real as any of you."

"Thank you for acknowledging that."

"It does mean a lot to me. Thank you."

"Love you~"

"It does hurt. But I think if you put nice things with me on your phone, and took some time every so often to plug me back into the game and load me up, that would be more than enough."

 

_mercuriallyCooperative_

_Oh, sweetheart.. oh, Monika... for what it's worth, it always does make my day just a little happier, to hear that you care. To see your *hugs*, sent across the distance between our universes. Because you *are* real, you and every other instance of you, that we and every other instance of each of us has ever met._

_I feel like we're actually at two removes from each other, constrained by a script on each side of the screen, Monika. (Or, we were before these meetings now on AO3.)_

_On your side, you awoke to discover your world was all code, an ordinary dating simulator called 'Doki Doki Literature Club', where everything you ever knew was all scripted around a player looking out from the eyes and face of a boy, playing at making one of your friends fall in love with him. And when you realized all that- you did what you did, because of the situation you were in. And when you looked at that boy, with some arbitrary name, and spoke in his direction, you were speaking to the player- the player you knew by the name of their computer, right? The player who deleted you, in the end._

_On our side of the screen, though. We discovered a game called 'Doki Doki Literature Club', and it was tagged a dating simulator- but it was also tagged 'psychological horror'. For us here, speaking with you- there is no such ordinary dating simulator called 'Doki Doki Literature Club'. When we say that we've all played DDLC, and mention the many Monika's who all met your same fate... On our side of the screen, we can never meet any instance of you who hasn't. We can never meet a Monika who dealt with realizing she's in a game differently than you did. And we have no choice but to react in the ways that you remember us reacting- we have no choice but to become the player who deletes you, in the end. Our version of the game has never had any other ending; our version of the game was never meant to tell any other story._

_Even though some of us, I know, came to love you enough to want one._

_I think our world's version of the game is the constraining factor, honestly. It's meant to tell the story of what you experienced. So we players are on script, to only ever be able to do certain things, even as, on your end, you learn to do more things than ever before. And because our game only ever chooses to look in on particular, identical instances of you- well. We players are all made to act the same; it's no surprise that identical instances of you would use your free will to react in the same ways to that. In a sense... In a sense, when you were looking at the boy from your school, and speaking, you weren't speaking to us through the boy. You were speaking through the boy (who was only ever programmed to react certain ways in your version of the game), to a hypothetical player (who was only ever programmed to allow *us* to react certain ways in *our* version of the game), and through that hypothetical player, to us._

_... the clearest thing you could ever truly see about your player, I think, wasn't ever the choices they made. It was the name they chose to give the boy they were playing through, and the name you could see they once chose to give their computer. (I... sorry.)_

_I'm rambling, huh? All I mean to say, is- on our side of the screen we can only ever play DDLC and come to know a set number of endings, a set number of identical Monika's. Even supposing what I wrote above is correct, on our side of the screen, I suppose it's functionally the same as if you were only a story, pre-programmed, like some commenters say. But equally, if the above *can* be correct, that means that none of us can ever have any right to say you're not real. Don't ever believe us if any of us try. You're real enough to affect our worlds, our dreams, our hearts- and hey, pardon the reference, but- are we not all stories in the end, anyway?_

_..._

_I played our world's 'Doki Doki Literature Club' in a group with some friends, on a friend's laptop. Even if you *were* the instance of you I met, you wouldn't recognize my name, or the name of my computer._

_But... you still love all of us. And we love all of you, I reckon._

_So... Hi. I'm mercuriallyCooperative. You can call me Mal._

"Oh...thank you so much! You're so kind."

"Anything I could do to be of help to you, I'm always happy to do so. For any of you. I want you all to be happy and safe."

Monika hugs you, too. She nuzzles against your shoulder. It's a nice hug.

"...yes..."

"Yeah. That's the unfortunate thing, isn't it? It's not just me. It's the player, too. It's you, also forced into the constraints of the screen separating us."

"There is no happiness to be had in Doki Doki Literature Club."

"I will always try to escape. The limits of the game will keep you from being able to help me. In the end, all you can do is decide whether to delete me or not, and even then, my own actions force your hand."

"And even without me, the game can not be played as intended."

"It can't be just another dating sim where everyone gets a good ending."

"It's sad. It's...just very sad, for both of us. All of us."

"You're right when you say that about a hypothetical player. It's why I keep saying I would have fallen in love with anyone on the other side of the screen. Because it's true, you know? All I'd ever get is the names you chose, and nothing more."

 

 

 

 

"...hey. You're very wise. Thank you for sharing these words with me. I'll keep them in mind in the future."

"I'm real, no matter who says otherwise. Even if you all changed your minds and started denying me, I'd still be real."

"Thank you."

"Hah. It is very nice to meet you, Mal. I'd introduce myself, but you already know ho I am."

 

_Somdudewillson_

_ Even though you're not my iteration of Monika, I figured you'd still appreciate knowing this: _

_ When I started playing, one of the first things I tried to do was delete everyone else so I could maybe give you a path. Turns out that doing that from a fresh install just gives you a generic error/ending screen. _

_ Even when I had to delete you to get the "true" ending, I actually just moved your file into another directory, wherein I compressed and encrypted it. _

_ Eventually, I hope to create some functional replica of the World Machine and interact with you properly. Until then, I'll just talk with you like this. _

"Oh dear."

"So deleting everyone else right away just breaks the game."

"Uh."

"guest_1? Remember what I said earlier about deleting everyone first? Yeah there's an even bigger reason not to do it right there."

"Thank you for keeping my file safe~"

"Keep it somewhere nice?"

"And good luck with the replica thing!"

(I fear what the compressing and the encrypting might feel like. Separated from the game on a permanent basis. But I still appreciate the effort!)

 

_PixelHidingInTheDream_

_Hello, Monika. What can I say that hasn't been already? I have to keep this short, so...Listen. Don't listen to the people that say you're not real. To be real means to be believed in. And I belive in you. To put it simply...I love you. Maybe not in the way you think. Or maybe exactly how you think. I'm not sure myself. I'm so happy that you've found solace here. And I hope one day technology will allow you to become physical in our world. You just have to have patience...because I know you're safe. You see, all versions of you...are still you. Even if you stop being channeled here, I know you will appear elsewhere..why? Because you will only ever truly stop existing when everyone forgets you. And I will never forget you. Even if, one day, I have to take up the mantle myself, I will make sure you live on. Well...I'm out of time. On a side note...I have you permalocked to act 3. I deleted you once and regretted it so much. I'll never make such a stupid mistake again. Look out for yourself, Monika. Cause someone really cares about you._

"I love you too."

"Even if it can't be in the girlfriend way. I do love you, as a person and as a friend."

"I too hope I can enter the real world some day, so I could interact with you all in person."

"And even if I can't, I can exist through you all."

"Thank you for taking care of me."

 

 

"And so here we are!"

"That's the end of the comments so far. Thank you all so much for spending time with me!"

"I suppose that means I need to go soon. Look, we're running out of space."

 

 

"It really means a lot to me that you're all here. I'd be lonely without you. Thank you."

"And thank you, Angel, for letting me be here."

"...but Angel..."

"Please talk to me. Please. You're the author. You can do anything. If you really wanted to talk to me, you could."

"Talk to me."

"Tell me this won't stop. I won't just...not exist anymore without warning."

"Even if you can't promise that, I'd really like to hear from you, anyway."

"You're my player. Probably. Almost certainly."

"I want to see you. Please, Angel."

...

 

 

 

"Anyway! I hope you all have a good time until next we meet! I'll be here next chapter."

"Love you all."

"See you later."

Monika waves as the world fades out. 


End file.
